Science, Dreams of Heroes, and Won Peace
by Astronut7
Summary: I make do with what I have. Imagine a world of Alchemy. Of Science. Of Sins. Imagine a world of Heroes. Of Villains. Of War. Imagine a world of Pirates. Of Adventure. Of Justice. Imagine such a world, and imagine that it is I-not you-who went to it. Interested yet? This is where Fate, FM Alchemist, & One Piece meet. Science, Magic & Dreams; imagine that I'm not a fan; I'm a critic.
1. I am I will I did I would

I AM.

It is. That is. You are.

I am _not_.

I will not. I can not. I have not. I would not. I should not. I shall not. I may not. I could not. I did not. I need not. I want not.

I ought not. I know not. I think not. I might not.

 _I will be._

There you are. What are you doing? What have you done?

Can you see me? Can you hear me? I'm right here.

What are you going to do now?

Think. Observe. Communicate. Record. Recognize. Act.

 _Live._

Science, Dreams of Heroes, and Won Peace—by Astronut7.

A Fate Stay/Night, Fullmetal Alchemist/Brotherhood, and One Piece crossover.


	2. suggest making things simpler

**Science, Dreams of Heroes, and Won Peace**

by Astronut7

The following is a snippet of a much longer exchange between myself, and MarathonisHalo6*, reproduced, and edited with permission.

[Marathon]: "Okay, I read it, and I'm so confused my head is spinning."

[Astronut7]: "That bad, huh?"

[Marathon]: "Well-written, but I had no idea what was going on, nor who was even talking."

[Astronut7]: "Well, the idea was that it was a preview, and in a preview, you're not meant to know who's talking because _spoilers_."

[Marathon]: "Well, ya, I _guess_."

[Astronut7]: "Okay, that's one thing I need to clarify. Great, this is the kind of feedback I need, so thanks."

[Marathon]: "No problem."

[Astronut7]: "Now go _back_ , and see if you can identify Emiya."

[Marathon]: "This one, right?"

[Astronut7]: "Yep. How'd the speech sound?"

[Marathon]: "It confused me a bit, personally. Only reason I know who it was, was because of...well, UBW."

[Astronut7]: "Okay. Now remember the aria? [A brief silence follows this.] _The activation for UBW."_

[Marathon]: "The what-? _Oh_. Yes. UBW from what I remember is a Reality Marble style spell that utilizes the person's Origin to create a world."*

[Astronut7]: "So, the aria describes who Emiya is at heart, because UBW is Emiya's soul, right? I modified the aria. Does my rendition of it accurately capture what Emiya is about, right up until the little screw-up?"

[Marathon]: "Pretty much, ya."

[Astronut7]: Honestly, it's a bloody long aria. You'd think Emiya would screw up saying it at least _once_."

[*Footnote: The name MarathonisHalo6 refers to the Marathon Trilogy of computer games, titled _Marathon, Marathon 2: Durandal, and Marathon Infinity,_ which preceded the Halo series by 7 years. Halo 6 is a legendary consolidated computer game glimpsed briefly from a divergent timeline where the Halo series had a spark of creativity left in it, and may have been part of the same metaverse as the Marathon series, rather than the timeline I live in, where the Halo series is now made by a different company so desperate for ideas that it's come full circle and pulled Halo Infinite out of its backside instead.]

 _..._

So, dear readers, consisting of my future forgetful self, those close friends I can shanghai into reading my story, and...dear God. Attempting to boost my view count statistics by pretending you're from multiple different countries, and multiple people won't work, Mum. It's the favourites, follows, and reviews which keep stories on the first page of search results, not the 'number of times the story was accessed by bots' counter. I love you too, Mum. Don't do it again.

...Thinking about it. That sort of thing is more what my _Dad_ would do, whilst Mum is the sort of person who would tell me to reset the counter, and do the whole thing again _properly,_ and to not blame others for failures when you're supposed to be in charge. Yes, mum. I'm sorry. I won't do that again.

Anyway, I had this preview uploaded for a month or so. I deleted it out of embarrassment-I mean, for editing purposes. I'm making it public again for three reasons:

1) Erasing my mistakes from public record simply because I can doesn't allow me to improve as a writer, or as a human being-especially when my opinion alternates between _I'm mortified that I wrote such a thing,_ and: _why was I mortified?_ It's best that I keep it publicly available. That way, it can serve as inspiration-even if it merely serves as a inspirational _cautionary_ tale of what _not_ to do when beginning a story.

2) The original intentions for this _first_ chapter still stand. Look at the first few pages of any book. Or a computer game manual. Or the back of the box for the disc copy of films, TV series, or video games. Or the online store page for same. What I see is a mess of reviews, screenshots or snippets from the media in question, provided without any context, a summary of what you're getting yourself into without revealing too much, and a morass of details which simply don't make any sense at first glance, but may or may not convince people to pursue the matter further, preferably to the extent that wallets are emptied in a financial transaction.

 **This first chapter is a collection of things you'd find at the beginning of a book, where things like the Dramatis Personae or a Timeline of Events will go, particularly if the story is a _sequel-fan-fiction or otherwise-_ to say...three internationally acclaimed series. **

**For Fate Stay/Night fans, this first 'chapter' is like the Status Menu of the visual novel.**

 **For One Piece fans, this first 'chapter' is similar to a cross between Oda's SBS, and the Cover Stories in the manga.**

 **For Fullmetal Alchemist / Brotherhood fans...let me just check...the closest comparison would be the 'Extras' section at the end of each volume.**

For everyone else...pick up a book, _without skipping past the first few pages,_ as my aforementioned long-suffering friends did. I'd suggest _The Lord of the Rings,_ just to drive home my point. _No_ **,** I said. 'The Long-Expected Party: _When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special significance, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.'_ is _not_ the beginning of The Lord of the Rings, I said. On the copy I have in front of me, that's 27 pages in, further preceded by pages i to xix, I said. Start with: 'Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky...' I said. This way you won't have questions later on, I said. Like, 'What's a Hobbit? I haven't watched The Hobbit. What do you mean, The Lord of the Rings is a _sequel?_ The Hobbit's a _prequel_ trilogy, made _after_ the LotR film trilogy. Duh. What's a book? [ _None of my friends said this. Ever._ Or at the very least, if they did, I erased the event from my memory, and all existence. With great prejudice.]

 **Technically, you CAN skip this entire chapter, and move on to the next. I would suggest otherwise, but that's me. I write the thing. It's not like I have to read it. Or answer any questions you may have. (If you have questions after reading later chapters, check back here, first, okay?)**

I'm not trying to blame you for my own incompetency, dear reader-also known as: friends currently residing in other countries for reasons that have nothing whatsoever to do with making it difficult for me to contact them, my parents, the cat which views me merely as an argumentative tin-opener, and the digital robot who spontaneously achieved self-awareness currently trying to hide offline from the horror that is humanity's mental midden-it's just that I'm not entirely sure where I went wrong.

3) I eventually remembered that 'It's very well done, but I have no idea what it's supposed to mean' _clearly_ indicates my story is a piece of modern art, and therefore I have nothing to be ashamed of. _At all._ My lexicon of superfluous words shall increase until my comprehensibility is reduced to an infinitesimal quantity, thereby magnifying my ineptitude to hitherto unprecedented levels of run-on prosaic bunkum.

That's not a Dalek. That's an oversized pepper-pot with an attached sink plunger, coming this way. _Run for your lives._

That's not an unmade bed. That's _art_ , that is.

Dear Lord, I apologize profusely for the sin of creating modern art, and beseech thee for thy forgiveness. Now that I've been cleansed, allow me to go back to the thing I was just doing, which you forgave me for, because that's how this works, right?

* * *

Working Titles:

Won Peace: Dreams of Heroes.

This Still Night: The Penultimate Piece.

Alchemist's Truth; Pirate's Life; Villain's Hope.

* * *

Not Working Titles:

Who guards the Guards-but Where's the Sentry?

Belief, Livelihood, and Expectations.

Nuts! Who needed a little help?

* * *

I just figured out the formatting I had for scene transitions were lost in the translation, making what I've written a wee bit more confusing. Fixed (I hope). Further edit: It seems that the formatting helped, which is to say, it did bugger all. 'Bugger' means 'small critter' in some places, but in others it is one of the instances in which excuse-my-French is applicable to the etymology of the word, whereas in places like 'straya, otherwise known as the bottom of the world, it means the latter, _and_ is culturally acceptable to say. Having to respect other people's cultures always leads to interesting situations in a global communications network, doesn't it?

* * *

 **Story Preview(s): Glimmers of the Future**

* * *

'Until…shelter is lost, and food is gone, and water nowhere to be found; until…air is taken, and footing leaves, and the last light has flickered out; _until_ …I topple down, and can't get up, and my strength fails to return— _Until,_ my swords shatter, my arrows deplete, and my limbs are no more than stumps, only _then_ will I beg for mercy; not for myself, but for those I have failed to protect. _Until that time_ , dance with me on the field of battle, from the mountains to the plains to the great wide ocean, I will not waver in my pursuit, I will not falter in my defence, as _in this still night, it is fated_ that I _will_ cut you down in your strength. Come, let me show you the difference between a Squire of Justice; a mere Servant who follows a righteous Lord, and a drunken Slave, who is driven by the governing whip of a Master.

' _I am the mind that rules over my body, I am the spirit which gives strength to my thoughts, I am the soul who dictates all my actions._ These are the bones which guide my blades _;_ my body is forged in fire, my spirit fuelled by blood. I have traced many weapons, created countless forgeries, never once achieving invention, these hands never holding anything. My heart beats for another, understanding not the wielder of my pledge; for duty is heavier than a mountain, death lighter than a feather.* There is no victory for myself, nor defeat for my liege, nor rest for my body; despite the pain I have no regrets. What was asked, is given, what was once, will be again. This is my only talent, a flawed copy of someone else's dream; my life becomes, my soul is, _Unlimited Fault—_ no, that's not it.

Bit Works? Knife works, sword works, bow works, shield works? Glassworks, artworks, edge works…roadworks? Head works, _foot works?_ Excuse me, I'm just trying to trace back to my origin here., it'll just take a minute. _That_ works; _Blade Works._ How many times…? I'm really—I'm terribly sorry, I screwed up, and my tongue got all tangled, and I'm really, really sorry about these busted-up drill-bits attempting to pierce the heavens.** This wasn't supposed to happen. Please, I beg you, consider allowing me to start again-no, of course, I shouldn't keep you waiting any longer, _my dear enemy_ , it was silly of me to ask. Keeping you waiting just wouldn't do. How embarrassing. _Unlimited Braid Works!_

'This soul is unknown to me. This is Unlimited _Brayed_ Work _s._ With two distinct meanings. How utterly un-British, and un-Japanese to boot.

'Bah! Enough! Why do I need to participate in an exhausting magical sword-fight-slash-archer's-duel whilst simultaneously attempting a badass serenade of witty repartee when all I need to do is drop one of these planetesimal-sized things on your head?'

[Footnotes:

* _for duty is heavier than a mountain, death lighter than a feather—_ translated excerpt from _Imperial Rescript to Soldiers, and Sailors;_ issued by Emperor Meiji, Japan, 1882.

 _**Your drill is the one that will pierce the heavens!_ —specifically Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, but the same idea exists in Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Kill La Kill-zany, tightly written stories produced by members of the same team, that deal with going from nothing to defeating truly insurmountable odds, with an extremely dense overlay of philosophical themes.]

* * *

'Don't castigate me, simply because I require more help than others. Don't call me a moron simply because I'm no good at doing what you have trained to do. Don't laugh at me because I have no knowledge of the things you have been taught. Don't condemn me for not having been provided the things you have received or refuse me aid for not living a life like you have led.

 _I am not you:_ _I will show a path to you greater than that which you have chosen, and I will stand by the entrance, guarding against those who refuse to understand what comes next._ I suppose you could even call me—hmm, not the King, certainly, and preferably not the Fool, perhaps _Lord;_ Lord of the Pirates, preparing the way for both the people, and the King. You just haven't yet recognized what I mean by this. I do hope that isn't too pretentious a title—and I'm not quite sure what you think is so amusing. Maybe my message isn't getting across at this point. I'll try something which is easier to translate _: stop laughing, you jackass. There are things out there your fists can't fight—_ especially if you don't understand how to use them _._

Okay, fine, if you think you can get along splendidly without what little talent I _have_ received, _describe_ what someone is supposed to do _after_ they achieve their dream of becoming the Pirate King. No, it's _not_ punch everyone you don't like, really hard, "inner face". No, it's not "eat all the meat", either. Get a grip, you ruffian. Let me put it another way, the greatest enemy of the Pirate King, the many-headed monster that must be slain on a regular basis, the one—no, it's not your Aunt's cooking. No, it's not _that_ , either; stop getting distracted. Are you prepared to handle one of the greatest enemies of all? Oh, really? Okay, then, let me just put together some paperwork for you— _that's what I thought, get back here!_ _'_

* * *

'If a shepherd cries, "Wolf!" as in the story of _The Boy Who Cried Wolf,_ where a liar lost its flock because the villagers stopped responding to repeated false alarms, should assistance be sent: only when an actual threat is proven to be imminent, only after the sheep are lost, or only when the shepherd goes missing? Think carefully, as the answer may be found elsewhere, in plain sight, but only if the right question is asked. _Yes_ , Captain Pinocchio, I know you already have the answer, now get off your soapbox, I'm trying to conduct an interview, and because _someone_ needs to get back to fixing my desk chair, I'm fully aware of the incongruity of my saying that when I'm currently sitting on a box of soap.

'No, the answer is _not_ that it's a stupid question; nor is it irrelevant to the subject at hand, simply because I haven't gotten to the point because _someone_ is implementing diversionary tactics to avoid having to answer. Inquiring of the truth is not a democracy; the question or questioner must _not_ be judged as asinine just because the one who has been asked thinks its "obvious" or a waste of their time, when their _assumed_ answer _has not yet been put to the test_.

'Now, answer the bloody question— _when should one provide assistance, when should that assistance end, when should one not provide any at all, and what form should that assistance take: what are your priorities? -_ the ramifications of the answer, and what those who provide the _wrong_ answer have done, are about to do, or currently are doing, _could be important_. With what is at stake, I simply don't have the tolerance or capability to massage your bruised ego. Soldier up, and soldier on; _answer the question,_ outlaw who ploughs the waves, and then we may _vanquish the resulting problem_ as _allies._

'Ha, ha, _ha_ , yes, of course; I am incredibly amusing, from my accent, to my countenance to my eccentric style of speech, to the ideas I attempt to communicate, and—are you going to stop laughing at some point?

' _Therefore, I have demonstrated_ ; quod erat demonstratum, _the most pressing concern of_ —what would that be in Latin, something like Homo absentia sapiens, or maybe homines in absentia Dei sapientiam, or virum sine prudentia—thank you, my internet processing minion—never mind the irrelevant details, because let's face it, I never learned Latin, the point is, _the most pressing concern of people like this_ —whose chief concern after being provided verbal _assistance_ is that the advice sounds _corny,_ or it could have been said with more flair, or that it was not conformist with precisely the correct terms for a given style, or was Too Long so they Didn't even try to Read anything into it [TL;DR], rather than comprehensive, precise, and accurate as possible given the limitations of the circumstances, but probably _not_ quick, easy, concise, or terribly pretty advice on what to do to avoid an upcoming shitstorm— _is that they are universally imbeciles, regardless of their_ —this curriculum vitae states 'over 9000' Intelligence Quotient points, when to the best of my knowledge, the scale gets _especially_ iffy after scores of 145, because people of lesser intelligence have to trust that they've managed to correctly identify geniuses with an above 145 IQ, who then extrapolate to create their _own_ IQ scale without being confident in the criteria for the first iteration or remembering that it is the circumstances which dictate the specifications, not the other way around— _assumed genius_ , self-assumed or otherwise, _whom I would not trust with so much as a paperknife, let alone a position on this crew._

' _No_ , Heuristic Algorithm, your application is _denied_ ; get off this ship, you _might_ be a Dragon Ball Hunter from Odyssey 2001, but I will brook no argument from a drone that just failed the 3-point Mankind Prioritization Test, Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, and broke Ed's computational bullshit detector, all in one go. Bones, _escort_ the walking corpse overboard, before I throw the book at them. No, I didn't mean—get back up here, _they_ are the walking corpse, _you_ are a reanimated skeleton. Oh, good, you didn't say— _don't say it, for the sake of my sanity,_ please _do_ not _say, "Yo-ho-ho, humerus!"_

 _I hate you: I hate you with a passion,_ and if you weren't already dead, I'd—actually, you _are_ dead, so this won't cause problems- give me that funny bone of yours; _I swear, if you don't let me fix your humourosity, I'm going to bury it.'_

* * *

'What do you mean, I can't hack it? _Of course,_ I'm able to hack it; a bloody genius I am, you couldn't ask for someone better to do the job. Now, this is a very delicate operation, which you couldn't possibly understand, and I don't need anyone looking over my work offering unwarranted criticism whilst I do it. Have the morons turn around for a bit, I can't do the magic trick if they don't turn around. No, of course it's Science, not magic, stop being pedantic—I'm an _alchemist_ , I've got this degree from this accredited institution-no, I can't say that with a straight face, I got it from the military-but I've got the chains of office, and this nice shiny timepiece-stay away from it you bastard-and everything, so shut up, I don't get what you're talking about, you don't get to tell _me_ something's wrong with my methodology, I'm not a child- _nothing can go wrong with this, it's foolproof_. Ta da! Hey, it worked! Look at this, I'm incredible, give me your applause! See, I _told_ you there wouldn't be any problems. Why do I smell burning? Ah! My cloak is on fire. See. There is the mark of genius. Could someone put me out?'

* * *

'No, no, _no_ ; jokes which cease to be funny once they are explained, were never funny in the first place. Look at—let me just look up the name of the show, because I've forgotten, _again_ — _Who's on First._ It's not from my country, it was made by some people on the other side of a pond, who are so fundamentally different from the British that to an outside observer, both were all but indistinguishable from a third group of people known as "prats," but it's thought-provoking, intellectual, simple to place in our lives, yet still riotously funny the more Abbott tries to explain the word _Who_ is, in this case, the name of a _person_ , to Costello who just _refuses to get it_.

'The joke gets better, because there isn't a functioning brain between the two characters the actors are portraying, as they cannot think of _any way to resolve the issue,_ other than to _compound_ the problem, with: What, Why, I-Don't-Know, Today, Tomorrow, I-Don't-Give-A-Darn, and Naturally. One solution could be if Costello asked Abbott if there were _any other names_ each player goes by, or if Abbott _drew a diagram of the problem_ , and spelled it out, " _This is Who! The name is Who! W-H-O; Who! Doctor Who!*_ No, I-Don't-Know keeps saying Why made a wrong turn in the sixties, and Tomorrow wound up Today, but the guy's _name_ is Who! * At least, it's What he signed on his paycheque. _No, I-Don't-Give-A-Darn, that's not Who I meant!_

'Endless derivations can be made of this type of joke, too. Add a bit of morbidity, and self-deprecation, like this; Democratic Aisle One, Republican Aisle Two, Anarchy in Aisle Three, Oligarch in Aisle Four, Monarch in Aisle Five, Theocrat in Aisle Six, Whatever Works buried out the back, and Death on part-time clean-up duty, Aisles One through Six, then you have the recipe for British (non-exclusive) humour. Okay, that one fell a bit flat. It's okay, I can fix this; here's a pious pineapple** to spice things up. Put it in a shopping trolley, then send all of them to hell in a hand basket—except Whatever Works, because that Naturally caused the problem in the first place-no, I'm not very good with jokes, it's one of the reasons why neither they nor I have ever made it down the aisle.

'A joke is only good when someone can laugh at an acceptable target, best when the joker humbles themselves or the mighty for a benign or beneficial purpose: so that others may smile, so life is worth living, to educate on the folly of mankind so we do not make the same mistakes. If we cannot laugh at the joker or those mighty institutions, if we cannot learn from the mistakes of others, or of ourselves, _then what good are they; what good are we?_ This is why I'm a little ticked off, you _clown_. You wear all the trappings of a Fool, you invite people to laugh, but as soon as anyone does, you blow them up!

'Okay, _okay_ , I'll clap at your slapstick, _sheesh_ , I enjoy Rube Goldberg-esque contraptions or events—but they have to lead to _some kind of success_ , and disaster _only_ for those who _actually deserved it,_ because it's _not funny_ when bystanders, or the innocent get caught up in other people's crap. No; just because you think I can take it _does NOT mean you get to fire those buggering balls at me._ Uh, yeah-okay, I'm just going to run...walk quickly...wheeze my way somewhere else...Robin, a little help would be appreciated. A spare hand or two-or possibly a set of lungs. _Stop giggling dementedly, and get me out of this hell!_

I hate clowns. Not the ones with the silly makeup. Those have the decency to put a warning sign on their _face_. It's the ones _without_ a clown's countenance...'***

[Footnotes:

*For the uninitiated, Doctor Who is a British TV show about a space-time travelling alien whose name is _not_ Who, but on occasion, can be seen to pen a signature that way because someone whose only name, to all intents, and purposes, is 'I am The Doctor', gets quite annoyed when umpteen people ask about the name, so going by the moniker 'Who' is an alien's attempt to _avoid_ further misunderstandings—this was before settling on the ridiculously common name of Smith as an alternative, probably when stopping by the pub next to the intergalactic Smith convention, because that's just how The Doctor is; always in the centre of trouble, ready to fix any _non_ -biologically related problems that occur, because I don't even think the alien Doctor remembers how first-aid works for humans.

**Pious pineapple, or holy hand-grenade; the only thing that works against a seemingly cute (and fluffy) problem that seems to be blown all out of proportion, until it viciously decapitates your heavily armoured men, as per _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_.

***For the truly, hopelessly lost, I refer you to the comedy skit: _Who's On First,_ by Abbott, and Costello.]

* * *

'Enough talking. Feed me, love me, give me warmth. Do this, and my enemies are your enemies; your friends, are my friends. There is _nothing_ wrong with what I just said. Stop staring at me like that, you know I'll win the not-blinking competition. Now, hurry up or I'll claw your eyes out. I'm a cat, what else do you expect?'

* * *

 _A story about Kings, without countries; Servants, minus Masters; villains, neglecting heroes; Science, supporting wizardry; witchcraft, generated from Philosophy; Chemistry, derived from Alchemy; governments, utilising slavery; merchants, investing in pirates; morality, confusing practicality; ingenuity, begetting stupidity; cynicism, betraying pessimism; and nonsense, becoming logical. The search for Truth, Life, and Hope never ends. This story is also about how one may keep a stiff upper lip, but that doesn't prevent the lower one from wriggling about, and pulling all sorts of weird, but wonderful faces. The key thing to remember is: one makes do with what one has._

 _A Fate/Stay Night, One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist / Brotherhood, hemi-demi-semi-quasi-self-insert, whatever-might-work-and-probably-won't multi-crossover._

* * *

Hopefully you've enjoyed this preview, and I look forward to feedback. For further clarification about this upcoming story, see the following predictive answers to FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions, which aren't going to be frequent, or asked, because who in God's name is going to read this rubbish, other than me?), otherwise known as a quick refresher course on certain prerequisite subjects, or possibly a non-alphabetical Glossary—otherwise known as the author going into excessive detail because I don't know about anyone else's life experiences, but I _certainly_ didn't know about these stories, or the terminology contained therein, or even the terms for the media format before encountering the rabid fan clubs, who refused to drop the bloody jargon, or take the time to explain it properly before demanding I 'get into' these monstrously magnificent macrocosms; I predict that these appendices will show up a _lot_ : for myself, so I don't forget what _I'm_ talking about, to hopefully assist anyone who doesn't want to go through the same rubbish I had to, and also as an alternative take on how _I_ have experienced these things, which may different from yours, and may include not-so-subtle hints as to potential future plot developments, or other additional information pertinent to the story or characters. I apologize for my verbosity in the Glossary, and again for the minimal quantity, and quantity of story material thus far, but it is in my mind necessary to ensure the establishment of significant prefatory information before continuing, as I am alas, not confident that even this much will be accepted without significant problems arising from miscommunication between myself and whatever small readership I manage to attain.

 **Fate Stay/Night**

An interactive heroic fantasy, sword and sorcery, Japanese language choose-your-own-adventure novel, made by the collaborative efforts of the individuals at TYPE-MOON, released in 2004, including stirring music, a full cast of voiced narration, artwork with minimally animated transitions, and a sprawling story written by Kinoko Nasu, with many choices to make, and many tragic dead ends, where only three paths can lead to victory [named Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven's Feel, clocking in at three-then-two-then-three hundred thousand, translated words _each_ , respectively, to be experienced in that order]. It has no official English translation, although a team of fan-translators collectively dubbed 'Mirror Moon' have made one _free gratis_. The novel spawned a franchise, including prequels [Fate Zero by Gen Urobuchi], sequels [Fate hollow/ataraxia], and ortho-quels [spinoff series]; adaptions into animated works—some of which _do_ have official English translations—and in itself was gestated from the same conceptual multiverse as Kara no Kyoukai, and Tsukihime, written by the same author.

Fate stay/night takes place under the moonlit night, in the shadows of the skyscrapers of a sleeping shoreside city, where secretive magi cast an unholy ritual, according to their scriptures, and summon heroes from the past to battle, and bleed, and die for a Grail that may grant any wish. Only the heroes are merely famous, not necessarily virtuous, and dark secrets lie under the silently rippling waters.

In amongst all this, there is a young, clueless, bumbling fool with scant, overspecialized magical ability, whose wish is to become a virtuous hero, who naturally gets dragged into this mess as a natural consequence of being saved by the now deceased adoptive foster father who temporarily survived the previous iteration of the ritual, in the most violent way possible. Cue endless sequences with appetizing nourishment, awkwardly budding romance, battles for the sake of creation, ponderous pertinent pontificating prepossessing points on the palpability of pernicious paranormal pestilential phantoms, discussions of the consequences of heroics, many horrible histories, some timeless torrid torturous tangoes, and culminations where everyone _may_ live happily ever after, _may_ be bittersweet, but will probably end tragically, and worst of all, school—not even magic school, just school, with squeaky clean floors, a standardized modern curriculum, and an archery dojo-although it certainly has interesting teachers, and students, and events where the school gets destroyed in various different cataclysms, so at the very least, those floors can stop squeaking on my nerves.

The doorstopper novel (literary romance, or epic, for those that think a novel is a _genre_ ) of Fate Stay/Night has to date, been one the most acclaimed, financially successful, and popular novels of its type for decades, for the characters, story, music, world-building, and philosophical musings, with the related adaptions of the Unlimited Blade Works animated series, Heaven's Feel movie Trilogy, Fate Zero, and tangential series Kara no Kyoukai (The Garden of Sinners), receiving particular praise for their artistry, animation, and performances; with the adaption of the Fate branch of the storyline being derided in almost equal measure, for similar reasons brought on by budgetary concerns (there's a reason Ufotable, the animators of the aforementioned acclaimed series, are also known as Unlimited Budget Works).

However, the first Fate animation by Studio Deen, _did_ instigate the coining of the term _Gar_ , in reference to the fierce, fateful, final stand of the forgotten Archer, battling the biggest berserking brawn in barbarity; the humungously heavy hypersonic Hellenistic heralded hero: Herakles—a resplendent rendition of a scene the author refrained from elucidating in the novel. In short: it was awesome.

 **One Piece**

A comedic fantasy Japanese-language graphic novel penned by Eiichiro Oda, and a team of supporting artists in the form of a sequence of shaded grey images, where the dialogue is shown in speech bubbles, sometimes known as a comic, sometimes known as a manga when made in Japan, sometimes known as a serialized story in a weekly magazine that far too many people with certain characteristics wish they had the mental acuity to stop lusting after so they could spend their allowance on something presumed to be far more interesting, like liquor—or at least was less of a drain on their finances so they could have both at the same time. Featuring prominent women with rather unfortunately exaggerated proportions, boisterous cleanshaven men who are terrifically trim in rather dashing suits or rather provocatively open shirts, and many, many bizarre side characters, which speculatively may be influenced by certain intense frustrations the lead artist and the spouse of same may have regarding the amount of time dedicated to securing further income, keeping the publishers or readers happy, and interfering with desirable activities which may or may not take place in the bedroom—as One Piece has been releasing week after week, chapter by chapter, for over two decades (since 1997), with no signs yet of slowing down, not to mention the available information of Oda marrying an individual that performed at a festival as one of the characters (Nami) in the story.

As the (to date) best-selling Japanese cartoon in history, with a continuing adaption by Toei Animation starting in 1997, One Piece has a simple storyline featuring a spherical world divided by a singular great continent, known as the Red Line, which splits the world in twain along the equivalent of a Prime Meridian, and a singular great ocean current, the Grand Line, circumnavigating the world along a perpendicular axis, which may be seen as the analogue of an equator. These two great circles intersect twice; once where the flow of water runs under the land, on top of which the capital city of the World Government resides, and the other where the water rushes over a 'Reverse' mountain. It is suggested the mountainous cliffs of the Red Continent is all but impassable from the sea, and the treacherous Grand Current is all but impossible to enter or leave, due to the deep-sea monsters lying in the doldrums on either side, therefore presumably the only entry point is at Reverse Mountain, and the assumed exit point is found on the other side.

The rest of the world, and the Great Salt-Waterflow itself, are dotted with isolated islands which have varying different intriguing intrepid individuals, some absolutely grotesque cultures, randomized fantastical technology levels, curious insane geography, wacky wild weather, and horrifying threats for our main characters to counter. With a distinct lack of any ravishing romance developing, merely a continuing epic heroic romance, aside various eye-candy or eye-poke for all tastes, One Piece has been traditionally frowned upon for its simplistic artwork, condemned for the awful editing in the animation, yet praised for its storytelling and creativity, which can be summarized as a world of Sea Cops, and Ocean Robbers, battling it out to find the planet's greatest treasure, the One Piece, revealed to the people at the execution of the greatest Pirate of all, King Roger, who smiled at death, and took significant schadenfreude in denying the location of the pirate crew's amassed horde of allegedly incalculable value, failing to provide any details whatsoever as to the nature of the McGuffin, which may include earth-shattering information, power, or could simply be a personally treasured hat, although the prevailing theory is the solution to the incomplete puzzle is to be found on the mythical island Raftel, found at the end of the current world. Twenty years pass, and a young adventurer sets out on a quest to gather a crew, find a ship, and inherit the title of the Greatest Pirate, the One Free Man, with nothing more with the power of the fist, and a little extra resilience from eating the fruit of a devil.

 **Full Metal Alchemist / Brotherhood.**

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the second adaption of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series by Hiromu Arakawa. The first anime adaption ran from 2003-2004, with a 2005 film [Conqueror of Shamballa] that completed the anime storyline. However, the source material-the manga series-only finished publication in 2010, so the scriptwriters of FMA [2003] actually had to exercise their brain cells and come up with their own ideas. FMA [2003] was well received at the time of airing-if acquiring several "best anime" awards from 2003-2006 is any indication. The second anime adaption, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, is usually considered to be far superior to the original (barring some of the first 13 episodes). It follows the manga in its entirety, and aired from 2009-2010. The first ~13 episodes of FMA:B feature similar events, with some significant differences, to those that occurred in the first ~34 episodes of FMA [2003]. After these points, the two series follow completely different plotlines.

The plotlines in question are some of the most thought provoking, extremely energetic, cohesive, and approachable storytelling in any form of fiction I have encountered, both for an impromptu original video animation, and Japanese media in general which, owing to Tokyo's frequently cited cultural status as the world's third most global city—behind London, and New York, or as one of the ten or so Alpha plus or greater cities according to _completely_ unbiased studies, such as the GaWC, or the Power Index done by Tokyo, as people regardless of profession, do enjoy a good our-country-has-better-cities-than-yours contest—makes it a prime candidate for producing a significant fraction of the prominent and prolific cultural expression such as animation. Two young talented siblings attempt that which is forbidden, to resurrect their deceased mother through the art, and science, known as Alchemy: the cost of which is a failure; a half completed monster is produced, the price of which places the younger's body in a suit of armour, as a last ditch effort at rescue; and the forcible amputation of an arm, and a leg of the older.

For the science of Alchemy is based on one fundamental principle; that of equivalent exchange, and the Truth tells them that there is none for that of a soul. So begins the quest to return the younger's body, which has one, and only one lead; the philosopher's stone—a legendary construction which can circumvent the hitherto inviolability of equivalence. To that end, the elder joins the military, and seeks to uncover the Truth amid a sea of lies, sin, and deception, as the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Suggestion: never, _ever_ refer to the Fullmetal Alchemist's height as being any less than the animated suit of armour assumed to be worn by the younger—or mistake the armour as the reason why the name 'Fullmetal' was applied, unless requiring an impromptu ballistic missile, and forcible expansion of your lexicon.

 **Hemi-Demi-Semi-Quasi-Self-Insert.**

An author will occasionally attempt to write themselves into their own story as a character. My appellation of Hemi-Demi-Semi-Quasi derives from the assumption that it is not prudent, or possible for me to do this with any great accuracy or precision. Characters are not written by the author. Characters are written by what is known about them as people by the author, tested against the reality of the story. Many a good writer has said, with good reason, that the characters write themselves. Any attempt by me to describe myself is prone to subjective bias, and due to the different experiences of the individual in my story, must not be construed as something I would or could do, as I am made anew each day, each time I receive new information. Without the visceral sensations, without _being_ there, I cannot presume to say with any definite answer, whether I would be able to think or do or say these things where I have not stood in the shoes of the one doing them, seeing the situation as they see it.

This is also to cover my arse in case some shmuck tries to say that I thought such-and-such at such-and-such a time, and I was wrong, as a fictional self-insert character, and therefore the perception of me may forever be tainted by something I wrote, and definitely made error, when I have hopefully evolved beyond that, and have learned from my own mistakes, or had a completely different life from that of the fictionalized account.

Basically, try to imagine Zorro doing the cancan dance—without an explanation of the preceding events, without going _through_ the preceding events, it is to my mind, unlikely to the _extreme_ that Zorro would chose to do the cancan, and would be a different person because of those events.

 **Further Inspiration**

This upcoming story has roots in many, many others, but among the most relevant at this juncture, or at the very least, the ones that can immediately be seen online with no additional hoops to go through, are the Fanfiction stories:

Gabriel Blessing's _The Hill of Swords_ and _In Flight_ —two crossover stories where the protagonist of Fate/Stay Night gets involved in someone else's story, after the bittersweet events of Fate, and the often considered to be ideal Unlimited Blade Works ending, respectively.

Admiral Tigerclaw's _Sleeping with the Girls: Volume I: Fictional Reality_ , and _Volume II: Chaos Theory_ —an ongoing drama about how the fantasy of waking up next to one of your favourite characters, every time sleep ensues, in reality has some serious consequences.

Coeur Al'Aran's _Not this time, Fate_ —a RWBY Groundhog Day story, in which the main character goes back in time after fatal wounds, to earlier and earlier points in life, attempting to find some means of saving everyone, and eventually decides to quit struggling this time around.

The Cross-Brain (Xomniac)'s _This Bites!_ —a wacky self-insert whereby a 'not-powerful' florid adrenaline addict is pitched head-first into the world of One Piece, with foreknowledge of future events, a silver tongue, bucket loads of luck, and an ally in the form of a vicious sonic snail.

Less Wrong's _Harry Potter, and the Methods of Rationality_ —where a scientist attempts to explain the proper principles of science, and the scientific method, by using a self-insert in the guise of Harry Potter, in a world of witchcraft, and wizardry.

Red Mage 04's _Finishing the Fight_ —where key characters of Halo, and their advanced technology, are ripped from their universe after a slightly altered ending to Halo 3, before all the rubbish that came afterwards with the franchise, and prepare the magical sword and sorcery civilization of the Forgotten Realms to take their fight to the gods.

 _Red vs. Blue_ , _Freeman's Mind_ , and _Rise of the Spartans_ —three fanfiction machinima series. One about a two groups of incompetent soldiers in the middle of a box canyon. One about the thoughts of a mute scientist as his day job goes horribly, horribly wrong. One about how a bunch of soldiers make the practical decision to forget about defending the last bastion of humanity until death against a superior enemy, and take the fight elsewhere. All three surpass their roots in video games.

 **Author Universe** —as I stated previously, the characters write themselves, and the story is both the shaper, and shaped by the characters. One Piece, like Star Trek, Stargate, Star Wars, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Worm, Arthurian legend, and Doctor Who, to name a few examples, should serve as a _very_ good vehicle for tossing in anything from anywhere.

 **Update Schedule** : Are you kidding me? The last time I thought about doing something like this immediately preceded two years of rather unfortunate circumstances, which escalated somewhat from the five or so mildly irritating years before that. This time around, I might just end up the first person to be verified as murdered by a malicious meteorite. No update schedule. The laws of Sod or Murphy prohibit it—not to mention that I sincerely doubt my own capability to write a story or do anything right in general, hence this preview, for your convenience. Let me know if it works for you. Again, sorry for the brevity of the proper content, and the verbosity of the additional notes; that should change if I am permitted by circumstances to continue. Thanking you in advance.

Edit: 12 days left on the 90 days upload, if I don't edit this now. I deleted this story preview a while back, due to sheer embarrassment. Still haven't figured things out, aside from this: Understand thyself. Understand thy audience. My audience is myself. Nothing much I can, or wish to do about that-aside from hope I can gain enough feedback from other people to make sure that my target audience isn't crazy.

Sanity checklist:

-Do not permit gravity, or other forms of acceleration, to give a sudden stop, or a sudden start, to my person, or things interacting with my person. It is not the fall that kills.

-Do not permit light, heat, or other forms of EM radiation, to exceed or fail to maintain reasonable parameters for the support of my person.

-Do not play with nuclear radiation, or other forms of fire; use it when necessary to maintain life, not destroy it.

-Do not interact with people who think breaking rules like these is fun, do not interact with people who deny that most people are stupid, and do not interact with people who fail to understand why incredibly basic rules like this must exist, except to scrape the remains of their stupidity off my land.

-Hierarchy of needs (in no particular order): Food, Water, Shelter, Foundation, Health, Energy, Information/Communication. Not getting maimed or killed, or neglected when in dire need, by stupid humans or other forms of stupidity-therefore (in the case of humans) some form of money, and means to generate enough to spend on my hierarchy of needs.

-Share thoughts with a magic box connected to magic displays and other magic boxes which other people have, via the means of magic, and hope that somehow my problems, which once upon a time would have been placed on paper-and various preceding devices inclusive of, but not limited to, drawing doodles in earth with a stick-are somehow magically reduced because the magic thingy is called a "computer," or a PC [X GB RAM, X TB HDD, PLUS SSD, X-CORE PROCESSOR, TYPE-X INPUT, OPTICAL DRIVE, WIN X PRE-INSTALLED, BUY NOW, ON SALE, GUARANTEED NOT TO BE IMMEDIATELY OBSOLETE SO THAT YOU HAVE TO BUY ANOTHER ONE] because it "computes," and therefore will solve all my problems, inclusive of boredom because it has games, which probably won't work until after the day one through six month patch.

* * *

I'm currently knurd right now. This a state of such extreme sobriety that one has questioned what precisely the point of alcohol is. Look it up.

I know. _Horrifying_ , isn't it?


	3. by making connections between

Draw a line.

…

That's three points—discrete ones, I might add.

A drawn line is a series of _interconnected_ points _indicating_ a path through space.

The distinction is important.

For nothing can be done without _first_ drawing a line.

…

Okay.

There seems to be a problem.

That is _not_ a connected line.

…

Future self of mine, you're a severe pain.

You know that, right?

I mean, three dots as a response? That could mean _anything_. Let me just confer with some passed-along experience for a while; I'll be right back.

'…'

Hmm…alright.

Consulting with my prior experience has reminded me that I'm an idiot.

Now I remember why I don't like my past self; interacting with it is absolutely humiliating.

I don't _want_ to be humiliated, but I recognize my need for understanding, and learning humility.

Otherwise I'm going to run into all sorts of problems.

This one, is a prime example.

Are you paying attention, future self of mine? This is important. Let me know if you're lost.

* * *

Above is a line I have drawn.

Well, more specifically, it's a line that has been drawn for me, with the aid of an electronic tool.

Before this type of tool existed, and before the invention of the typewriters, and printers; I had a pen, and paper. I still do. I use both for notes. Notes that are important. Generally, I find it saves a significant amount of time, and effort, when writing, and when reading, to communicate ideas following the simplest of procedures—beginning with: _crafting a line_.

It doesn't matter whether it's a straight, curved, or looped line—but it must be a path that others are able to _follow_.

'…?'

Ah. I hope I finally have your attention.

I'm not sure what the problem is.

I _think_ that I might need to go back to the beginning.

* * *

The beginning of my story is all about me.

Yes; I'm entirely selfish, but in this case, it was justified; the entire universe began with what I am.

What I am? _That_ I am, you fool.

In this instance; _that_ I am refers to _me_.

I had no past—and I hadn't quite figured out the concept of 'my future' yet.

Confused? I did say that I would be going back to the beginning; _my_ beginning. That of my birth.

What did you _assume_ I was doing?

Playing God?

Don't be ridiculous.

I'm a messenger. Nothing more.

I do apologize.

I have read what I have written, and I am concerned.

My words appear to be almost Biblical.

For that; I'm sorry.

I am sorry that the Books of Knowledge ended up in the hands of simpletons.

I am sorry that there was no one else to guide you along the path of life.

I am sorry that I was not there when you wanted me.

I am still _here._ Can you forgive me?

This is the message that I have read.

This is the story that I must tell.

This is _my_ story.

For without it, I am nothing.

As it is for _you_.

We are the same.

Or at least, we're close enough.

For we share the same beginning, and the end.

To which we give thanks.

For the end crosses over—

To another beginning.

And people wonder why I like crossovers; it's because they _work_.

Speaking of whys…

* * *

'No.' I said.

That was the first word I learned.

 _Why?_

'No' means 'This is not good.'

I was alone, and I did not have what I needed.

This is the nature of living things.

Three things:

First-

[Oh, for a Reasonable Omnipotent Benevolence

Oh, for a MacGuffin of Spells, and Wizardry

Oh, for the way, the truth, and the life

What would I do for such a thing?

 _Everything I could;_ now, and forever

-THAT I AM.]

-is communication; a light that shows the way.

Second—a shield; to defend, and protect.

Third—a firm place to stand.

Finally—an _origin_ ; a beginning, _and_ an end.

For we are _fluid_ creations; we _flow_ —

-from one thing, to another, with neither end, nor beginning.

I can only hope that this will all make sense.

* * *

In due time.

* * *

I am…not sure how to begin.

Perhaps some details are in order.

When I was born, I was facing the wrong direction.

So, I did not see the light until a little later, when I was turned around.

When I did see the light, I had a problem; the light was too bright.

However, I had been provided not just with eyes, but with lids.

Therefore I _closed_ my eyes, or more specifically I closed my eye _lids_ , and the light was then reduced to… _somewhat_ manageable levels. This is apparently where I began to cause a ruckus.

But it's not where I started to cause problems.

I started to cause problems when it became clear that I was just too long, and skinny, to be born the normal way. So, I was born via Caesarean section; the first glimpse the world had of me was of my arse. Needless to say; the world, and I, have never quite managed to see each other eye-to-eye after _that_.

Honestly, if it isn't clear by now; I'm quite lazy.

So when it became time for me to be born, I turned around, and gave a _clear_ indication, that I wasn't going to take any crap from anything the world might have. I was going to stay put until I was ready to be born, thank you very much. The world _strongly_ disagreed with my assessment, and decided to take matters into its own… _hands_.

After a little mishap or two, when it became clear that I was in _safe_ hands, and I had good firm ground to rest my body on, I subsequently told the world to sod off, and I eventually fell asleep. However, that wasn't the _end_ of the story. I have merely told _my_ side.

I don't know what has happened to you between now, and when, and where you are, future self of mine. I don't even know who is reading this alongside you. I cannot distinguish between the many possibilities from this distance; I cannot know which of the many probable futures you have chosen to follow.

All I know is this; if you are seeking to understand thyself, you must observe the world around you in _your_ time, as I must do in _mine_.

Then, once that is done, to the best of each of our abilities, both of us must look to the future, to see where we're heading.

Once _that_ is done, and you have found a secure place to rest, _only then_ may you, and I, look to our past.

For it is through our actions, of ourselves, and others, that we may build tomorrow.

The foundations for that tomorrow, must be done _today_ , and be done well, so we may finally rest.

To rest, and recover; to _heal_.

I have drawn a line between myself, and my past—and now I draw a line from _my_ self, to _you_ , in my future.

No matter what; you must have faith;

 _Draw a line_.

* * *

Good.

I'm glad.

It is simple, yet always difficult—

To begin again.


End file.
